2025 Hip-Hop Albums Of The Year

If you aren’t a reader, I linked the albums below, you’re welcome.

I know that people await my end of the year lists with bated breath, so without further ado, here is my 2025 AOTY list! Last year I wrote an expansive piece including a wide range of albums as 2024 was a hip-hop renaissance if you ask me, but this year I’m returning to my format of only posting excellent albums that dropped this year, which means there will only be the best of the best.

If you cannot enjoy a single song on any of these, I wish you to no longer exist on this planet. I’m semi-serious. These are all albums that should be purchased on vinyl or CD, as they’re all close to no skips or literally have no skips. I’ll let you know on each review, don’t trip. Happy New Year ya filthy animals. See below:

Kenn Starr – COLD

I could pretend to be a Kenn Starr stan for years, but to be honest I only would really listen to his Black Milk banger “Say Goodbye” on repeat over the last decade or so since it dropped, as I’m a certified Black Milk stan, and that beat knocks and is one of my favorite Black Milk beats ever. Mr. Starr laces it too.. it’s a monster of a track. Fast forward to 2025, and I saw that he was releasing his first album in a decade with Kev Brown. I’ve followed Kev Brown over the years as well, though much less closely than Black Milk, and I’ve always considered him to be a top-tier producer. Producers of this caliber are rare and I always pay attention to what they do and who they work with.

Even more rare is when a top-tier producer does a full LP with an artist, so I was pumped when I saw that Kenn Starr and Kev Brown dropped COLD. And man, is this album cold… living proof that anyone who says hip-hop is dead is wrong. This is that pure raw hip-hop that we all fell in love with in the 90s, but it still sounds modern. It’s honestly timeless. Kenn Starr is an absolute wizard on the mic, and Kev Brown is on the boards, so this is a true match made in heaven. Since I heard this I’ve been listening to Kenn Starr nonstop, and man I slept on him. He’s only dropped 3 albums in 20 years, and each one is excellent and dare I say classic. I love the quality over quantity approach.

This album is Illmatic concise, with only 11 tracks, but I’m glad it’s 11 tracks of heat vs. a 15 song album with some filler. This is 100% no skips, a perfect hip-hop album, and an obvious one for me to purchase and add to the collection. Flawless albums like this are extremely rare in any genre, and hip-hop of this quality is also rare and to be treasured. This is maybe the best pure hip-hop album I’ve heard since Elzhi’s Seven Times Down Eight Times Up. Who says that perfection is impossible?

Larry June 2 Chainz & The Alchemist – Life Is Beautiful

Life Is Beautiful dropped when I was in Costa Rica for my 5 year anniversary as I was balls deep in the beautiful scenery and nature that is Costa Rica. There couldn’t be a better album for a tropical vacation. This is my favorite collaboration album that The Alchemist has ever done… and he does a lot of these and has done a lot of great ones… see The Elephant Man’s Bones, Covert Coup, LULU, etc.

To keep it P (idk what this means but I hear rappers say it), I can’t stand Larry June. His lyrics are corny, and honestly most of his beats don’t move me. Pairing him with 2 Chainz though… that shit on paper sounds insane, but it turned out to be most brilliant concoction since gin was first paired with tonic. 2 Chainz is an underrated lyricist and he clearly out raps Larry here, but they balance each other out and it’s nice to get things switched up on each track when they pass the mic. 

This album also has no skips and is perfect to play on the beach, though there’s also some tough production on here that maybe isn’t all that beachy. I played it the entire time I was in Costa Rica and drove wifey crazy. This album started the year off right. Seems like The Alchemist saved his best beats for his most high profile collaboration, which makes sense. You’ll love this me thinks.

Radamiz & Fortes – LIGHTMAN, the album

I can’t profess to know a lot about either of these guys musical output over the years, but I do know that Fortes loves trading stocks as much as I do. Anyways, they joined forces to release this incredible album this year, and I’m now a fan of both. The production on here is minimalist, allowing Radamiz’ bars to really shine, and man do they shine. He raps so passionately that it’s almost too pure. Don’t sleep on the production either though, it’s really great, and it shows the closeness of the collaboration here, as the beats sound tailor-made for Radamiz and I’m not sure anyone else in the world would’ve laced them the way he did.

This album is super dope. There’s maybe a few skips here, but sometimes I debate that myself, as I’m just super picky. If you’re taking my recommendations thus far, you’ll quickly notice that none of these albums sound remotely similar. I gotta shout out my taste right now. I’m really into this hip-hop thing.

Radamiz is a wise man and you can learn a good amount from this album if you listen, or it’ll reinforce some things you already know. Very unique album here, and I tried to do it justice, but just give it a spin and let Radamiz do the talking.

Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire – Vol. 2: The Y.O.U.print

What can I say that I haven’t already about eX? Dude’s in my top 3 DOA, a singular rapper with a singular vision. I miss the days of him collaborating with Danny Brown. They’re both so unique and so absurdly talented that it’s unfair. If you missed it, Vol. 1: The Y.O.U.print was my #1 AOTY for 2022. I’d say that one was more consistent on the production side, but outside of just two tracks here, I loved all of the beats. And you know eX laced ’em… he never plays around on the mic. Dude has the voice, bravado, flow, and most importantly lyrics of a hip-hop titan, yet he’s unknown nowadays. Shit makes me angry beyond belief.

Anyways, this album is super dope, and has been on repeat since it dropped. eXquire is like my therapist… dude articulates the struggle of life and more recently optimism like no other. He also has a unique ear for beats and always picks ones that would be tough to rap over, again kind of like Danny Brown. eX is willing to take risks constantly, and they almost always pay off.

eXquire should be famous imo as he really has mass appeal, but the game is rigged, particularly in hip-hop. The powers that be don’t want eX to shine. Regardless, he shines brighter than a shooting star whenever he drops an album and reminds us all that he is on some other shit. Legendary rapper with another classic to add to his catalog. Long live Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire, and don’t forget the Muthafuckin’, without that it’s nothin’.

The Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out 

I forgot to write this at first glance, as it was almost too obvious to include. If you didn’t see them tour this beast of an album, I’m sorry, as the visuals and show were unreal. They played all the classics too, like 20 songs or so in total. 

Shout outs to my boy JB who reminded me I forgot The Clipse, as I just revised this post and added this project. JB’s a legend in these skreets and has caught countless bodies, that’s why I refer to him as JB and not his birth name. JB is short for Jackoff Boy. 

The reason this album was so good is because it was entirely produced by Pharrell. Pharrell is too nasty on the boards… peep his song NICE with Jay-Z and Beyonce, living proof he doesn’t need Chad Hugo. Sorry Chad. Also this album is additional proof. 

I do think the album intro is kind of corny and it doesn’t touch me the way it did others, but the blingy tracks on here all knock, and this is undoubtedly a high quality release. I’d still play the 4 albums above this one over it though, sorry Clipse stans. Great album though. I can’t believe how many people stan Stove God Cooks now, when Roc Marci made him. Sigh. Triggered. Anyways, you probably already heard this, but if you didn’t, here ya go. 

Westside Gunn – Heels Have Eyes 2 

Ok this one isn’t on par with the albums above, but it is the best WSG album in maybe the last 5 years or so, and the best Griselda release in about the same time span. I feel like Griselda came out with pure heat at the start, and it’s just impossible to drop albums at that clip and keep the quality that high. Well this is a return to form. The production here is very high quality, though there are about 3-4 skips or so. The ones that hit take me back to vintage Griselda vibes though. The good ol’ days. I’ll never forget seeing them live in 2019, when my buddy left the show when we moved near the front of the stage as he said it was literally to hood for him. He could handle it when we were 50 feet from the stage, but not up close, cause Griselda was just too raw on their come up. 

If you like Griselda, you’ll love this. If you don’t know Griselda, you gotta do a deep dive into the old WSG, Benny the Butcher, and Conway the Machine albums. They were on fire from like 2015 to 2020. They’ve earned their place in the game, though the godfather Roc Marciano deserves all of their shine and more, as he single-handedly revived East Coast hip-hip and paved the way for Griselda. 

If you don’t want to do a deep dive on Griselda, that’s fair, but check this one out before you make your decision. 

MexikoDro – Still Goin the Ep

If you love southern rap, this is the ultimate revival album. MexikoDro is based out of Atlanta, but this sounds like pure Texas to me. You’ll know what I mean if you have the brains to press play. MexikoDro has these simple lyrics and a simple flow that sounds almost like he’s reading a children’s book. I don’t know if I can elaborate on that statement any further. It’s the same feeling I get when Maxo Kream raps. It seems elementary, but it’s dope as fuck in its simplicity, and the flow keeps you engaged. 

This album sounds straight out of the 2000’s. It’s very well done, though many of the tracks tend to blend together. Danny Brown had actually posted one of the songs from here on his IG story, so thank you for putting me on Uncle Danny. Great album here, though like the WSG album above, I wouldn’t put this on par with the first 4 albums I listed here. 

THIS IS THE END OF MY LIST. Final thoughts below. 

I might’ve dropped the ball in leaving Bruiser Wolf’s albums off of here, but I didn’t give either of them my full attention, though his album Potluck had me quite intrigued and it could very well be worthy. Outside of that, I think I got the real top albums here for 2025 in hip-hop, but lmk in the comments if I forgot something, as I’m only human. Though I am autistic af about hip-hop and I always stand on business, so I doubt you can show me something I don’t know. Please do try though, and I’ll tell you the God’s honest truth if you put me on or not.